Monday, October 27, 2008

I have a bit of a confession to make: I am a sucker for sweet video games.

I try to steer clear and be more productive with my time, but sometimes they are just too good to resist.

That being said, I LOVE it when games can be incorporated into and used as teaching tools. Like putting words to song, it makes it easier to learn when you are having fun.

Well that is exactly what the people over at Alternative Energy have done. Using EA Games' Sim City Societies, Alternative Energy incorporates a great teaching tool into the already popular video game. Alternative Energy explains:

Through an initial Web tutorial, students will learn to build their own virtual SimCity based on societal model, and in the proceeding lessons, set specific goals, monitor their city’s energy use and chart growth. The students will then control their city, choosing more environmentally-friendly and alternative energy options for city infrastructure.

Students can choose to implement over 500 unique objects into their city, ranging from workplaces to residential buildings and venues, and they can even choose to “bulldoze” pollution-causing buildings or allocate more money to energy research within their city.

As the program progresses, students will monitor their city’s pollution, energy output and health risks, while researching green initiatives, environmental issues and real-world green design applications at home.

Students get to learn how to be more sustainable and get to play video games? Awesome.

It says the lessons are for middle and high schoolers but I bet we could all learn a bit from this great program. If you know any teachers looking for a way to reach out to their students about the environment, this would be a great start!

Hope everyone had a great weekend,

-spoon

(found via treehugger. I believe Sim City Societies retails for about 20 clams, or you can pick it up at Amazon for $9)